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ISSUE 1 2020
SIERRA LEONE TODAY Freetown, Sierra Leone Credit: Shutterstock
From Jonathan Abiose Thomas, Diocese of Freetown. The Anglican Diocese of Freetown (ADF) is one of 17 Dioceses in the church of the Province of West Africa. It was created in 1981 by the partition of the Diocese of Sierra Leone into the Diocese of Bo and Diocese of Freetown. The Anglican Diocese of Freetown is a faith-based institution with six main objectives: Evangelisation, Pastoral Care, Health Care, Education, Discipleship and the Transformation of Society. ADF has a department called the Anglican Diocese of Freetown in Development (ADFID) in charge of development and project activities in the Diocese. During the past three years the main activities have been training of clergy, relief work (Ebola and mud slide) and coordinating Parish development projects. The Diocese of Freetown donated emergency supplies of various kinds to Ebola and mudslide victims with support from the USPG. The deadly Ebola outbreak claimed many lives across Sierra Leone and the mudslide claimed many lives in Freetown including those of women and children. Schools and churches were buried under rubble, when the deadly mudslide and flooding affected the west end of the city. This situation worsened the poverty of church members and the communities.
The rapid global spread of the Coronavirus poses great risk to human life and can cause enormous socio-economic disruptions in Sierra Leone
USPG has contributed to the formation of the Internal Province of West Africa (IpWA) and the Anglican churches constituting IpWA to develop a long term strategic and business plan - including a budget to help map out their resources and provide direction and focus towards development and sustainable livelihood in churches and communities. Thus, it becomes imperative to support the development of a strategic business plan that is all inclusive of the constituents of IpWA, enabling strategic decisions to be made whilst
at the same time maintaining a balance between diocesan priorities. The Coronavirus is a highly infectious disease that constitutes a public emergency of international concern and it has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. The rapid global spread of the Coronavirus poses great risk to human life and can cause enormous socio-economic disruptions in Sierra Leone. The situation therefore requires effective measures: no public gatherings, no church services, no mosque prayers to prevent, protect, and curtail the spread of the Coronavirus diseases in Sierra Leone. A state of Public Emergency has been declared by the President of Sierra Leone with effect from the 24th of March 2020 for a period of twelve months. Our church services are currently being streamed online and using radio and television broadcasts. The Anglican Diocese of Freetown wants to undertake the following activities: • Community sensitisation using electronics and print media and hand bills • Provision of veronica buckets and thermometers • Soap and hand disinfectant • Provision of food items (assorted) for church members and communities. Sierra Leone has reported its first Covid-19 confirmed case on 31st March 2020 in Freetown where the Diocese has majority of its parishes. Freetown remains in high alert as the single case is being isolated. Preventing the spread of the Coronavirus into Sierra Leone cannot be achieved without the input of the church. The Anglican Church in Sierra Leone is very supportive. As a church we pray that the preventive measures to protect and curtail the spread of the Coronavirus will be achieved.
